LAYOFFS: Medical device maker Boston Scientific said Wednesday it will cut as many as 1,300 jobs, or roughly 10 percent of its work force. The company is the latest device maker to lay off employees, amid lower sales of heart devices and stents.

LOSS NARROWS: The company posted a net loss of $1.1 billion for the last quarter of 2009, lower than the $2.4 billion reported in the same period a year before.

MARKET REACTION: The narrower quarterly loss was not enough to assuage investors, however, who sent the company’s stock lower after hours. The company posted lower sales of stents — its second-largest franchise — following disappointing study results reported last year.